August 4th, 2011 
LeeAnn This has been a bit of a tough week for me as my Gracie has been sick again. In addition to running from the snake, I also came home from the mountains as Gracie started to squint in her eyes again. About two months ago she had to have two non-healing ulcers removed from her eyes – one on each eye. We almost lost her that day as the surgery completely stressed her out and she couldn’t get her breath. We ended up with her at the emergency vet on oxygen for several hours.
Sunday night, I was fighting the blues as I was worried about Gracie and what the eye doctor would find on Monday. My husband and I were trying to find something light and mindless to watch on tv and there was nothing – until we turned to Animal Planet. There was a show on called Too Cute that followed the birth of three litters of kittens – Persians, Bengals and Abyssinians. The Persian kittens made me laugh. I love their names – the black and white one is Reginald and one of the calico kittens is named Gizmo. The mama cat’s name is Truly Elegant. Poor pugs – especially Harley. The look on his face at the end of this video is priceless. It was the perfect thing to relax me. Be assured – no animals are hurt (you will never see anything unpleasant in that way on this blog). I have laughed about this clip all week. ข้อมูลอย่างละเอียดของ ยูฟ่าเบท โปรดไปที่ https://www.UFABET.com
Thanks to Animal Planet, I slept on Sunday night.
The eye doctor and his wonderful staff worked Gracie in on Monday at a time when no other dogs would be there, to keep her from getting stressed. Also, I enlisted my sweet dad to come with me and stay with Gracie in the air-conditioned car so that I could pull her out when ready, and then deposit her back in the cool car immediately after we were done. The eye surgeon found two new non-healing ulcers on Gracie’s eyes (in different places) and did the surgery – this time with my holding Gracie. The procedure went smoothly and she did not get panicked and hyperventilate like last time. It breaks my heart that I cannot explain to her why she has to go through the pain – and that it will eventually be better than before.
As I was taking Gracie out to my dad and the cool car after the surgery, I noticed a beat up car parked near us, with a chocolate lab mix hanging its head out the car window. I was immediately a little concerned that (a) he was going to jump out and come after us and, at the same time, (b) that it was too hot for him to be there without air conditioning, something it did not look like the car had. I went back into the vet to pay our bill and as I was leaving for the final time, the young couple from the car came into the vet eye clinic, with the man carrying the big dog. I could see now that something was severely wrong with the dog’s eyes. I held the door for him and I went to get into my car. I was very moved. It was clear that these were not people of great economic means, and they were preparing to spend significant money on their precious dog. I was very tempted to go and anonymously pay their bill after they had gone back to the examining room. What stopped me, though, was a concern that it would have been insulting. I am still debating that decision in my head. I have a tendency to over think decisions; at times I wish I would listen to my emotions instead.
I have been working from home this week to be with Gracie as she recovers – and she is doing wonderfully. Since I am home, I have been cooking. I found a recipe for vegetarian taco salad on the internet that looked good.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels or frozen, thawed
4 large tomatoes
1 1/2 cups cooked long-grain brown rice
1 15-ounce can black, kidney or pinto beans, rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup prepared salsa
2 cups shredded iceberg or romaine lettuce
1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese
2 1/2 cups coarsely crumbled tortilla chips
Lime wedges for garnish
Preparation
- Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and corn; cook, stirring, until the onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Coarsely chop 1 tomato. Add it to the pan along with rice, beans, chili powder, 1 teaspoon oregano and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the tomato cooks down, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly.
- Coarsely chop the remaining 3 tomatoes. Combine with cilantro, salsa and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon oregano in a medium bowl.
- Toss lettuce in a large bowl with the bean mixture, half the fresh salsa and 2/3 cup cheese. Serve sprinkled with tortilla chips and the remaining cheese, passing lime wedges and the remaining fresh salsa at the table.
I adapted this a little – I used both black beans and kidney beans, and cut out the cilantro (we are not cilantro fans). For two of us, I used about a third of the rice, corn and bean mixture and saved the remainder. The salad was delicious. My husband added grilled chicken to his meal. We enjoyed the rice, corn and bean mixture again the next night as a delicious side. It would also be good as burrito filling.
I served the taco salad with homemade cornbread and guacamole. I will definitely make this again – it was a perfect summer meal.
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Our hugs to Gracie! I do not think that the folks with the dog would have been offended. You have a big heart Lee Ann. Your taco salad looks fabulous! I will have to try that. I bet it would also be good stuffed into some peppers and baked! All but the lettuce of course….
Thank you Jill – for your hugs and the thoughts on the folks with the dog. I was hoping people would let me know what they thought about it. And you are right – the mixture would be great in stuffed peppers!
LeeAnn, I just want you to know how much I have enjoyed your site. I want to thank you for sharing your recipes. I have lost over 40 lbs and have found that I can eat much better on vegetarian type menus. I simply LOVED your snake story and am really sorry to hear about Gracie. I pray she heals soon and NO more tumors!! Just a thought on helping people. I have actually made it my life’s goal to always reach out. I feel that if you had an urge to help someone, that you should follow through. People are hurting everywhere. To reach out monetarily or with your helping hand, I feel it just makes someone’s day better. Maybe even their life. One kind action can have ripple effects. The benefits of a kind act are limitless. Miss seeing you all and hope you have a Blessed day!! Kathy Cooper
Sending huge hugs to you and Gracie. You are a great mom and she is lucky to have you!
Thank you Ada!!
I’m so sorry to hear that sweet Gracie is not feeling well. I hope that she heals quickly so that you can both get some rest! In situations like you encountered at the vet’s office, I always remember something that my grandmother told me: “as you go through life you’ll find, you’ll never be sorry that you were kind.” Even if your kindness not accepted or reciprocated, you can be proud that you put something good out there in the universe.
Your taco salad looks yummy, too! Do you have Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook? I’m not usually a fan of celebrity cookbooks, but hers has some really good easy vegetarian recipes (although they are not all vegetarian). I think you would like it. My big kids are back in school – let me know if you want to get together for lunch sometime.
Thank you Jen!! Your grandmother was a wise woman – those are incredibly sage words – and ones that I am writing down and putting in my wallet. I do not have Gwyenth’s cookbook, but am going to look into it now. I appreciate the tip. I would love to get together for lunch – but may need to wait until September. I am heading back to mountains tomorrow, and hope to be up there the rest of the month. I will email you to set something up when I get back.
Laughter is truly the best medicine!
Good for you LeeAnn for at thinking of others and even considering helping them out with the vet bill. Don’t beat yourself up for not doing it this time around but I would agree, go with your heart and I don’t think you would offend anyone. We need more people like you in this world.
thank you for your kindess f-stop mama!
Best wishes to Gracie as she heals!
Thank you!
Glad to hear that Gracie is doing better. I’m sure she will recover nicely with your care.
I have done “anonymous” many times before. And I agree that it is an emotional decision. On more than one occasion I have second guessed myself out of taking action. For me the act is usually as simple as picking up the check for lunch or dinner. I have a soft spot for the military and police officers. My favorite so far is a Vietnam vet and his wife having lunch at Longhorn. I never made eye contact with the couple, even though they were sitting across the aisle from me. I took note of the man’s hat which showed the unit he served in during the war. They really gave the server a hard time as they wanted to know who paid for their meal, but the server never cracked. Priceless.
Thanks Robert! It is so good for me to hear these comments – it hopefully will prevent my hesitation next time.
LeeAnn – I Love your Blog… So sorry to hear about your baby!! that is tough – keep us in the loop.. On the giving side, I should send Bradley to the vet with you.. He somehow feels/sees the need and convinced Brian of handing $80 to people in need in front of the church this summer as he was walking in for Vacation Bible School (Brian probably would have done it anyway).. but listening to Bradley recap the story brought tears to my eyes. He said “it’s okay daddy gave that money away, hun, Momma.” I told him “yes.” (which at first, I was – hate to admit it – a little mad) He said “they needed it more than we do.” Have a fantastic day and keep posting!
Thank you Shelly – she is doing MUCH better. So cute about Bradley – I miss hearing stories about him! Thank you for the kind words!!